I have a composite mirror

Chapter 81 Ghosts and Gods

The two chatted for a few more minutes, and the conversation gradually expanded.

Although Jia Shouren himself was not highly skilled, his father traveled around as a merchant and had seen a lot of strange and unusual stories.

"My father had an old friend who once went deep into Yunmengze to do business."

"That time, their ship wandered into a fog."

When the fog cleared, the group found themselves on an island.

"That island was extremely strange. It was covered with many exotic flowers and plants that I had never seen before, and there was also a dilapidated temple."

"There is a statue of a deity enshrined in the temple, that statue—"

Jia Shouren swallowed hard: "It's alive."

"Alive?"

"Yes." Jia Shouren nodded vigorously: "That old friend said that he saw the eyes of the statue move with his own eyes and heard a low sigh."

"Everyone was terrified and scrambled back to the ship."

"When they looked back, the island had vanished, as if it had never existed."

"After returning, the old friend fell seriously ill and was in a daze all day long."

He kept muttering things like "I shouldn't have gone" or "I shouldn't have seen" to himself.

"Later, we hired a Taoist priest to perform a ritual, and that's how I barely recovered."

"But from then on, that old friend never set foot in Yunmengze again."

As Gu Shenyan listened to these words, he was secretly making plans in his mind.

Why is it that only demons and monsters wreak havoc in the world, while gods and saints are nowhere to be seen?

"Besides the talk of ghosts and gods, my father has heard some even stranger things."

Seeing that Gu Shenyan was interested, Jia Shouren continued, "For example, 'forbidden areas'."

"There are some places in this world that even a True Person of the Mystic Realm dares not easily set foot in."

"Those places are said to be the ruins of ancient battlefields, or the places where some powerful beings fell."

"The residual power within is too terrifying; even after thousands of years, it can still easily annihilate intruders."

"The Xuanzheng Division possesses a 'List of Forbidden Lands,' which records all known forbidden lands across the entire Divine Continent."

"If an ordinary person were to mistakenly enter those places, they would almost certainly die."

Even for cultivators, luck plays a role.

"With good luck, you might find some ancient treasures; with bad luck—"

He made a throat-slitting gesture.

The two chatted more and more enthusiastically, and before they knew it, they were wide awake.

Jia Shouren rubbed his hands together: "Senior Brother Gu, actually, there's another request I have for you tonight."

"Brother Jia, please speak freely."

"That's how it is—"

The young man scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly: "I—I didn't understand many of the things that Senior Sister Shen and Senior Brother Cao talked about during the day."

"After I got back, I looked through my notes, and the more I looked, the more confused I became."

"I've been thinking, Senior Brother Gu, with your exceptional comprehension, would you be so kind as to offer me some guidance?"

As he spoke, he pulled a purse from under his pillow: "Here are twenty silver dollars, as a tuition fee."

"If that's not enough, I—I'll think of something else later."

Gu Shenyan looked at the purse and shook his head: "Brother Jia, you're being too polite."

"It's only natural for fellow disciples to exchange ideas; why would they need money?"

"This—" Jia Shouren was somewhat at a loss.

"However—" Gu Shenyan changed the subject, "I am quite interested in the secrets that Brother Jia just mentioned."

"If you hear similar news in the future, feel free to tell me more."

"Consider it an exchange."

Upon hearing this, Jia Shouren's face immediately lit up with joy: "That's wonderful! That's wonderful!"

"My dad has plenty of this kind of news; I'll write to him later and ask him to tell me more!"

So the two sat back down at the table, and Gu Shenyan reviewed the day's lessons again.

He spoke in great detail, and Jia Shouren listened attentively.

What were originally obscure and difficult parts suddenly became clear after his explanation.

"I see—I see—"

Jia Shouren nodded repeatedly: "No wonder something felt off; it turns out I hadn't understood the transformation between 'mutual generation' and 'mutual restraint'!"

"Thank you so much, Senior Brother Gu! Thank you!"

As Gu Shenyan answered the questions, he found that his understanding of that knowledge was becoming clearer and clearer.

Teaching and learning go hand in hand; the ancients were right.

When you try to explain something to someone, you'll discover whether you fully understand it.

If you can explain it clearly, it means you have already mastered it.

If you speak vaguely, it means you haven't truly understood it yourself.

The panel also provided feedback:

[The lesson has concluded, and the understanding of the "mutual generation and mutual restraint of the Five Elements" has been deepened.]

"It's getting late."

Gu Shenyan looked out the window: "We should all go and rest now, we have to get up early for class tomorrow."

"Yes, yes, yes."

Jia Shouren quickly agreed, but then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something more.

"Brother Jia, do you have anything else to say?"

"this----"

Jia Shouren hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, "Senior Brother Gu, tell me—why hasn't Senior Brother Song assigned us any talisman-drawing tasks yet?"

"Logically, the setup should have started in the first few days."

"But now several days have passed, and he hasn't mentioned it at all."

"I—I feel like something's not right."

Gu Shenyan frowned slightly upon hearing this.

Jia Shouren is right. According to the rules, new disciples should have the task of drawing talismans from the first week.

However, Song Qingyuan never mentioned this matter.

Did you forget?

Was it intentional?

"Perhaps my senior brother is too busy with other matters to attend to right now."

Gu Shenyan offered words of comfort, but a sense of vigilance also grew within him.

"I hope so—I hope so—"

Jia Shouren muttered a few words before finally crawling back into bed.

Gu Shenyan blew out the oil lamp and lay back down on his bed.

The next day, at the first light of dawn.

-

When Gu Shenyan got up, Jia Shouren was already dressed and organizing his notes from the previous night.

"Senior Brother Gu is awake?"

He looked up, his smile more genuine than usual: "I'll treat you to a nice meal out today as a way of thanking you for your guidance last night."

"Brother Jia, you're too kind."

"Not at all, this is just me returning the favor."

After a quick wash, the two left the west wing.

After passing through the locust grove and around the bamboo path, we arrived at a street not far from the courtyard.

The alley is not wide, but it's bustling with activity on both sides.

The breakfast stalls stood side by side, steaming hot and fragrant.

There are vendors selling rice noodle rolls, where the rice batter is spread out in a thin layer.

Topped with dried shrimp and chopped green onions, and drizzled with soy sauce, it smells so good it makes your mouth water.

There are vendors selling boat congee, which is thick and contains fish slices, peanuts, and fried dough sticks.

After finishing a bowl, I felt warm all over.

There were also vendors selling char siu buns, shrimp dumplings, and siu mai. When the steamer was lifted, white steam billowed out, making one's mouth water.

"Senior Brother Gu, what would you like to eat?"

Jia Shouren patted his purse: "It's my treat today, eat as much as you like!"

Gu Shenyan, however, caught a glimpse of a familiar figure not far away and was somewhat surprised.

Cao Wenjing was sitting in front of the rice noodle roll stall, eating rice noodle rolls while flipping through the booklet in his hand.

Even a master of the Forging Realm would enjoy the food of ordinary people?

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